


Fly me to the Moon

by squishable_amethyst



Series: Fly me to the Moon [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-21 21:38:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8261216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squishable_amethyst/pseuds/squishable_amethyst
Summary: An AU where Pearl and Lapis live together on the moon, rather than with the rest of the characters. Will explore what life would be like for main characters if those two were not around.





	1. Enter the Moon

“Are you sure?” Steven asked, looking up at Garnet.

She only nodded lightly, and sat down across from him, Pearl on her left with Amethyst by him. “The Rubys are beginning to regroup, and when they do they’ll angry and want revenge”

“Can’t we just talk to them? I mean Eyeball was… maybe Leggy… or… you’re right,”

Garnet patted his head lightly. “For now we just need to keep watch for them.”

“How are we supposed to do that from here?” Amethyst asked. “They’re like in space I can’t see space from here.”

“Oh does your future vision tell us when they’ll be here?” Pearl asked.

A sigh is all they received in answer. The truth was Garnet only could see that they would return, but not when and where. She only saw their fusion furiously attacking them, destroying anything in its path with burning rage. Each plan devised seem to get worse and weirder with each pass; the only potential working one was to use Peridot’s old drone to check atmosphere. The only ones with the ability to fly it properly were Peridot and Pearl, but Steven didn’t like the idea of forcing them to spend so much time in a tiny area alone. 

“Can’t we just leave someone in space?” Amethyst asked, mostly checked out of the conversation.

“Amethyst honestly that can’t-” “Yes it can,” Garnet cut off Pearl, standing up now to get their attention on her. “The moon base is a probable place for them to regroup. It’s where they know.”

Steven jumped up then. “Someone can live there! I can pack them games and blankets since space is cold, and snacks if its Amethyst, and some toys if they’re lonely!”

“What makes you think I’m goin in space?” she huffed. “Why not send Lapis or something she doesn’t seem to like it here”

Again, Amethyst’s idea proved right. Garnet sent her and Steven to bring in the barn dwelling gems. Those two already lived far off from them; not having them close by wouldn’t be something new to anyone. Surely one of them would be willing to live off planet for a few days… weeks… months? Once they returned, Garnet simply explained what was wrong, and Amethyst gave her joke of an idea that was taken too seriously. 

“So you want us to go?” Peridot asked flatly. 

“We just need someone to, don’t matter who,” Amethyst replied. 

The room went quiet for a moment. No one truly wanted to leave Earth, especially with no exacting date of return in sight. Since there was no volunteer, Steven had the idea to draw straws for who would go. Sadly his idea confused them, and shortly after he found Peridot drawing a picture of a straw on the coffee table, declaring that she’d won and was the best at straws! Garnet patted her, and began to announce her as the chosen moon gem, but was cut off by her frantic begging to not go. Finally Steven came back with his straws, and said he’d cut one in half and the gem to pull the short straw would go. Each gem took their straw, minus Steven.

“I think this looks smaller?” Lapis asked, holding up her straw. 

“That can’t be right my straw is clearly shorter,” Pearl proudly announced. 

“I think I accidently put two short straws in,” Steven softly admitted, not looking at either gem. 

Garnet patted the sober son, and said, “Two is fine on the moon. Lazuli, Pearl, you will both stay at the moon base until the Rubys return.”

At night fall they prepared the Ruby ship. Steven packed it full of board games, cards, books and blankets, along with a plush toy for company. He hoped they’d enjoy all of it, and get along for the most part. To his knowledge, he only ever saw them interact for the baseball game. Did Lapis even like Pearl? The mismatch gem duo got onto the Rub ship, after many hugs from Steven, and waved goodbye to the others. The ship rose above the grass, and BOOM! Gone in a flash. Garnet reminded Steven again that they’d come back. She headed back to their home, waiting for Amethyst to follow along. Peridot watched them leave together, standing still in her place. Her home would be empty now; nothing but meepmorps and hay for company. Sure she was primarily used to solitude, but now that she had found what it was like to have company around, she didn’t know what to do alone. 

Running at full speed, Peridot shouted, “Let me live with you guys!”


	2. Life on the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven gains a new training mentor; Lapis learns poker

The ship was silent the entire ride. Neither Pearl nor Lapis knew what to say to the other. They didn’t have much of a relationship to start with, and both assumed their time on the moon would be spent alone. Once landed, the two simply carried the gifts from Steven onto the base, and found places to call their own. Pearl stayed by the main entrance, while Lapis took the diamond chair. She liked feeling important.

On earth, Steven was gathering the very last of his spare blankets to make a nice pillow fort. Peridot watched in anticipation, waiting to see what he was constructing for her. Amethyst would occasionally dive bomb the fort, bringing it tumbling down to the floor in a loud thud. Finally, now getting the cooperation of the purple gem, the fort was completed. 

“You can sleep in there!”

“Sleep?” she asked. 

“Woah woah you’ve never slept before P-dot?” Amethyst asked, in extreme shock. Who in their right mind had never taken a nap?

Peridot shrugged. She’d never even heard of the term before. The two did their best to explain sleep to her, though after twenty minutes she still found the concept hard to work with. Why would humans willing lay in a special square wearing their special clothes under special blankets, all while completely unconscious where an enemy could easy attack them? By this point Steven felt it was a lost cause, but not Amethyst. No, instead she grabbed hold of the green gem, pulled her into the pillow fort and got her to sit. She flopped onto her stomach, instructed Peridot to follow suit, and simply said to close her eyes. 

“This is ridiculous,”

“It don’t work if you keep talking,”

After a short time passed, Steven could hear both gems snoring in the pillow fort. He climbed into the fort with them, seeing as he used his own pillows and blankets to make it. By morning the shorty squad had gained Garnet, who was leaned against the outer walls of the fort. She was fully awake, but still enjoyed the soft pillows. Aside from potential Rubys storming the moon, there was no corrupted gem threat; this would probably make for a nice day off. Steven jumped up out of the fort, and began racing around trying to change out of his pajamas. Half way to his shirt the boy stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to Garnet.

“This was usually a training day with Pearl,” he explained. “I guess I forgot.”

The sound of him talking woke the remaining gems. “Why did you have Pearl training you? Pearls weren’t designed for battle, and even if they were you’re not suited to anything they do,” Peridot flatly said. She climbed out the fort, pushed her hair back into a proper triangle. “If anything it should be Amethyst training you.”

“Me?” she asked, tripping on a blanket and falling flat on her gem. “Why me?”

“You’re both a quartz! Quartz soldiers all have similar abilities and excel at specific combat,” the triangle answered. 

The echoing sound of the warp pad rang out as the group arrived at the battle ruins. Steven ran ahead, calling for them to follow him out to the open arena. As this wasn’t a new sight to them, Garnet and Amethyst followed him and sat on the stacked seats along one of the walls. As for Peridot, she had never before seen this area. Broken columns, crumbling floors, cracked walls and a steep drop off into nothing; she wasn’t having it. She complained, hollowing in rage that this was an unfit training facility, and demanded they return home. Now back at the temple, Peridot ran outside, yelling for them to follow. She took to the beach, and began drawing out a large square area in the sand. From what Peridot had observed, this area of beach was always empty. 

“Now this is correct! Not that crumbling garbage,” she proudly declared. Peridot grabbed hold of Amethyst and continued, “Go ahead, teach him!” 

The purple gem cracked her knuckles, summoned her whip and said, “Don’t gotta tell me twice!”

Back on the moon base, silence continued to be the main activity. The pair would occasionally pass each other, a nod in acknowledgement being the only communication offered. As Lapis made her way into the main area, she noticed the pack Steven had given them was beginning to float off. She pulled it back toward the floor, and opened it to see what he had given them. A deck of cards floated away, making its way toward Pearl on the stairway. She caught it, and tossed it back down to Lapis. 

“Care for a game?” she asked her.

Lapis shrugged in reply, and brought the card deck up and herself up to Pearl. She had no idea what these cards were, and how they made a game, but seeing how they were stuck on the moon for almost indefinite, it didn’t hurt to take twenty minutes to learn poker. 

On earth, the sun was setting, the ocean tides were drawing close, and pizza was on its way to the temple. Steven lay splatted on his couch, both tired and accidently cut. Amethyst’s spiked whip got too close for comfort, and hit the top of his arm. She apologized endlessly for it, but to her surprise Steven didn’t mind. He even told her he had fun training with her, and wanted to do it more often. Amethyst didn’t expect that. Sure she had filled in for training once before, but that ended in disaster. Training was always Pearl’s thing, and more recently with Garnet’s involvement, it was everyone’s thing but hers. She liked feeling included, feeling wanted and appreciated by Steven. The knock at the door alerted them to the arrival of pizza.

“Hey Peri go get that,” she asked.

Peridot went for the door, mumbling to herself, “I still don’t understand the pizza process.”


	3. Jenga on the moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> have some music and jenga for your troubles

“You’re cheating,” Pearl snapped.

“I learned this game literally two hours ago how can I possibly cheat?” Lapis asked, sliding her jenga blocked out from the bottom and putting it on top.

“There’s no gravity and you picked Jenga that’s how you cheated!”

On earth, a week had passed for them. Steven had kicked Peridot out of the house, not before banishing her to the bathroom which yielded poor results. She sat at the front door, arms crossed and her cheeks puffed. Amethyst came out to keep her company, bringing a plate of cookies Garnet had baked the day before. Each time Peridot pulled at the door, Steven shouted for her to wait. She huffed again, and chewed on the chocolate chip cookie that was offered to her. Finally he yelled for her to come back in.

Now in the house, Peridot asked, “What was the point of that!”

“Ta-da!” Steven said, holding up a nicely wrapped gift.

Peridot opened the box, and inside found a fabric holster with a handful of metal marshmallow skewers attached. “Uhh… thanks… what is this?”

“You don’t have a weapon like Amethyst or Garnet, but you can use metal! You can use the skewers like weapons on gem monsters!” he explained.

Both quartz could have sworn they saw stars in Peridot’s eyes as she attached the holster. She pulled one of the skewers, and shot it across the room, striking just above the fridge. They cheered in excitement, Amethyst egging her on to hit the same mark. A skewer shot out, now hitting the wall and breaking free of the house. Steven looked concerned, but before he could say anything another skewer shot free and caught the screen of the front door. Sharp skewers littered the small house by the time Peridot was done, each in a completely different location and a few missing. She tried using her powers to call all the skewers, only to stab herself in the hair and visor. Steven wondered in the past if her visor was for vision purposes, but now he wondered if it was there to keep her from injuring her face.

“Hey I found the tenth one!” Amethyst called out from behind the bed. 

“I found… no this isn’t one this is wood,” Peridot answered, holding up a drumstick.

Amethyst jumped down from the loft and landed butt first on the couch. “Dude you found my drumstick! I thought I ate that months ago!”

“Drumstick?” She took the stick from the green gem and proceeded to use the counter top as drums, playing a simple beat. Again, she could swear there were stars in Peridot’s eyes. “You can make sound meep morps?!”

“That’s music Peridot!” Steven explained. “We sang once remember?”

“Yeah yeah but this is different!” she shouted. 

Peridot ran to the warp pad, using it to go back to the barn, and returned in a flash, holding her variety of instruments. She gave her bongo set to Amethyst, asking her to play something for her. Though she gave it her best try, the bongo set didn’t satisfy the purple gem. She ran to the temple and disappeared through the door. Peridot waited in anticipation, but Steven knew exactly what she was going for. As the temple door opened and Amethyst came bolting out with her drum set in hand, Garnet warped back home. The small gem collided into the thigh of the fusion, falling over and dropping the drums. 

“Are you ok?” Steven asked.

Amethyst sat up and stuck her tongue out with a thumbs up. Garnet collected the drums, and carried them out to the living room. “This area is too small for all of this.” Amethyst hung her head, waiting for a lecture. “Go put this out on the beach I’ll go get my keytar”

On the moon base, the jenga game had finished, Lapis being the victor, which of course Pearl protested. With the game over, the two returned to wandering alone. The only interaction they’d received from the other was the card and jenga games, though they did agree upon playing monopoly later on. Lapis stopped for a moment, noticing when look like a large hammer indention on the floor and wall. She called Pearl over, unsure if this was old or if the Ruby’s had snuck in without them noticing. 

“Oh this? Sardonyx caused this,” she answered.

“Who?”

“Oh right you wouldn’t have known her. Sardonyx is mine and Garnet’s fusion.”

Lapis only nodded, now quiet. The subject of fusion still rubbed her wrong, and the love of it the crystal gems had didn’t help any. Everywhere she turned they were fusing. Sardonyx, Smoky Quartz; there was even a permafusion going around constantly. What made it so enjoyable for them?

As Pearl began to leave, Lapis asked, “Was it… fun as Sardonyx?”

On earth, the entire boardwalk of Beach City was hunting late into the night, trying to find the source of the music. They could hear it coming from the beach area, but as most never traveled past a certain point, no one could figure where the music was coming from. Out front of the temple, a new rock band had formed; Steven and the Crystal Gems 2.0. Their violinist was gone, but they had a great kazoo and triangle player. As the night went on, a new violinist joined the band. Connie had come over, after Steven called her and forgot three hours later.

“Steven!” she shouted, trying to be louder than the drums in back. 

Now noticing her there, he stopped the band. “Connie! We need a violin player! Come join it’s fun!”

“Why are you shouting?”

“What?” he shouted.

The band took a break, Amethyst going inside for snacks and Steven trying to regain what little hearing he had left. Peridot tried to use her powers to play a second triangle, only to drop the first one on her face. Once they had all regrouped, including their newest member, a loud roar echoed. The roar echoed again, now louder and far angrier than before. Crashing down from the cliff above the temple was a corrupted Quartz monster. While they had believed that all had been accounted for when Jasper was bubbled, it seemed she didn’t capture all of them. 

“Gems! Weapons!” Garnet shouted as she summed her gauntlets.

Amethyst readied her whip, Steven his shield with Connie at his side, sworn in hand. Peridot reached to her side for her skewers, only to find that she’d left them in the house. She panicked as she watched the monster barrel toward them, its jaws open ready to attack. Without a second thought she made for the house, going for her only weapon. The quartz monster noticed her separate from the group, and charged at her. Just as Peridot grabbed the door, the monster swiped at her, throwing her onto the beach floor. She lay flat on her back, staring up at the towering beast. It reared up, ready to crush her under its weight and claws. The terrified gem shut her eyes in fear, arms covering her face as she heard a loud slam and rip, a heavy weight now holding her down. A huff of breath in her face made her eyes open, and the sight before her was one she never expected.

“A… Amethyst?” she asked.

The purple gem was on top of her, using her own body as a shield. Amethyst huffed lightly, and before she could say a word POOF. Peridot caught the gem, and watched as Garnet’s gauntlets shot into the side of the beast, it’s paw swiping across her face, taking her visor with it. In only a matter of seconds the beast had been defeated, now held secure in a maroon bubble. She sat up, clutching the purple quartz. Her visor was snapped in half, and occasionally her form would pixelate. 

“Peridot! Amethyst!” Steven yelled as he ran to them.

“I’m sorry,” is the only thing she could manage to say.


	4. Reform the moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot redecorates, Garnet approves

“So you liked Sardonyx better than Opal?” Lapis asked.

“I wouldn’t say that exactly, but… I guess you’re right,”

“That much difference between them huh?”

“Fusing with Garnet made me feel strong. Fusing Amethyst usually made me feel tired,” Pearl answered.

“Malachite made me feel strong, too,”

On earth, Connie helped Steven carry in the injured gems. They had tried taking Amethyst, but had poor results. Peridot wouldn’t move, not even an inch. She was frozen, a statue, the only movement coming from her pixelating limbs. Her gem had cracked on the side, nothing a lick from Steven wouldn’t easily heal. The pair carried her in, surprised how heavy she was for her side. They got her onto the couch, and again tried prying the quartz from her hands. 

“She can’t reform if you hold her,” Steven pointed out. 

Garnet sat down beside her, pulling her glasses off. “This isn’t your fault Peridot. Amethyst only wanted to protect you, but if you don’t let her go she can’t reform properly.”

Slowly she set the gem down, her hand blurring as it moved. Steven healed her gem, and sat with her as Garnet brought in the instruments. He tried talking to her, telling her how it was going to be ok and how it was common for Amethyst to poof, but never once did he get a reply. Connie left later in the night, she promised to come back the next day to check on them. Though hours had passed, the quartz gem hadn’t moved. Garnet and Steven pretended it was normal for it to take this long, that everything was ok. They moved away from Peridot soon after, Steven scared and Garnet trying to comfort him. She was worried too; Amethyst never had taken more then four hours to reform, and this was pushing near five. 

The house was now dark, Steven fast asleep and Garnet away to check on the bubbled gems. Peridot was on her side, staring at the gem on the coffee table. It had been six and half hours now, and judging by Steven’s attempt to stay awake all night with her, she knew something was wrong. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “If I hadn’t run away, hadn’t left everyone… left you, you’d be ok, wouldn’t you?” Peridot put her hand on the table, her aim was for the gem but she missed. “If you come back, I’ll be better, I promise. You can train me to fight! I can be helpful to you! I can be worthwhile!” She huffed, realizing how crazy she sounded, talking to a rock. “You’d laugh at me Amethyst; I’m talking to a rock that can’t hear me, or at least I think I am I can’t see anything.”

A bright light gleamed from the gem. Peridot sat up, watching it awe as it rose from the table and a form began working its way together. Amethyst landed on the table, her shirt black, pants gray with white stars and shoes black. She stretched and yawned, stopping mid yawn when she heard sniffling. Peridot wiped away her tears and hugged the purple gem tight.

“I’m sorry Amethyst!” she said, her voice muffled in the fluff of hair.

Amethyst gave her a tight squeeze. “It was nothing! I just didn’t wanna see you turn into a pancake!”

As the sun rose, the sounds of crashing and breaking woke Steven. He looked down at the couch, and panicked when he didn’t see Amethyst’s gem or Peridot. Rushing outside, he ducked as a skewer shot over his head. As fast as it shot, it returned back to Peridot’s side, then shot out again, just barely missing Amethyst’s head. She used her whip to deflect the weapons, yelling taunts and teases to get her opponent worked up. The routine continued in the following weeks, each morning their battles louder and attacks more precise. Steven asked once to join, but was stopped by Garnet in fear that he could get stabbed. Peridot had suffered a good number of hits, especially the first week with her visor gone. Once it was found on the beach and fixed, her attacks improved greatly. 

“Amethyst!” Garnet called from the doorway. 

“What?” she shouted, dodging a skewer. “I’m busy!”

“There’s a corrupted gem I need to handle,”

She stopped, which halted Peridot. “You want me to watch Steven or something?”

“No, I want you to come with me,” she answered.

Peridot looked surprised, thinking she may have seen stars in Amethyst’s eyes. The purple gem raced up the steps, calling back that Peridot had the day off. She hadn’t been asked to go on a mission with just Garnet in years. Ever since it was just the trio, it was either all three going, or Garnet going alone. Occasionally only Pearl and Amethyst would go, but it never yielded good results. Now free for the day, Peridot headed back inside, finding Steven hanging a photo on the wall. 

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s a picture of me and Garnet,” he answered. “She let me paint cat whiskers on her!”

She looked at the photo for a bit, and asked, “What’s the significance of this?”

“It’s decoration! It makes the house feel more like a home,”

“Like my meep morps?”

“Sorta,”

Late in the night Garnet and Amethyst returned, both soaked from the island they’d traveled to. Amethyst was still laughing from the story she’d been told, holding her sides as if they’d split. Garnet only grinned, and then noticed the new arrangement of the house. The walls were spray painted, glitter coating the kitchen counter, fifty-five empty boxes of pizza were stuck on the ceiling with holiday lights glued in place, and floor had pictures of Cookie Cat draw on. A pair of recliner chairs had been nailed to the wall, with Peridot on top hammering them in place. The minute she saw the pair had returned, she jumped up, yelling Amethyst’s name in excitement, and instantly fell face first onto the floor. 

“Do you like it?” Steven asked.

“It’s a wreck; I love it!” Amethyst answered.

Garnet shook her head, and walked to the wall mounted chairs. She pulled a starfish off her side, a little friend that had hung on from the mission, and place it in the chair. “Now it’s perfect.”


	5. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and Lapis return home; Rubies are dealt with

“Wapow!” Peridot shouted, throwing her arms in the air and falling flat on her back. She shot back up, and continued, “My kindergarten teammate had set the timer wrong, and fifty gems popped out too soon!”

“What’d you do with them?” Steven asked, grabbing another marshmallow.

“We just had to keep them as is. All blobby and goey; a mess! An overcooked gem is way better to have than undercooked!” She gave Amethyst a nudge and a small wink on the last comment. 

The purple gem swatted at her, doing her best not to let a blush on her cheeks show. Over the past two months, the dynamics of Steven’s home and family had changed. The house, surprising still standing, now had a bunk bed put on the bottom floor. Peridot lived in the bunk bed, and occasionally Steven did notice his favorite purple gem spending a few nights there too. Garnet seemed calmer to him. She laughed more with them, and stopped spending so much time by herself; he liked seeing her smile. 

“Come on G you haven’t taken a turn!” Amethyst said, throwing a marshmallow at her.

“Yeah Garnet!” Steven added. “Story night’s no fun without yours!”

She smiled, and got comfortable where she was sitting. “I told you all how I first fused, but did I ever tell you the first time I unfused for two months?”

“What?” all three shouted in unison.

“The problem has been dealt with now of course, but five thousand years ago Ruby and Sapphire had a single issue; they couldn’t get my hair to stop being pink and blue,”

On the moon base, Lapis and Pearl had begun to find friendship in each other. It wasn’t much, but it was a decent beginning of a nice friendly relationship. They played every game Steven gave them, now ten times over per each, and had begun constructing a combination of monopoly, jenga and Pictionary. As Pearl finished the final revision on the rulebook, a loud clank got her attention. The moon base doors flew open, the vacuum of space pulling the board games violently out into the vastness of the galaxy, and a single red hand grasping onto the door. A Ruby pulled the door shut, and ran to the nearest window to see out. 

“Earth isn’t too far… if I could get my ship back,” the small gem said to herself. 

Quietly, Pearl inched toward the gem, trying to keep the element of surprise. Sadly, that was ruined as Lapis yelled out, “Hurry up with the rules I just wanna beat you at jenga again!”

On earth, Garnet stopped in the middle of her story, jumping up and calling the rest to follow her. She explained what she’d seen, the Ruby on the moon base and the three that were about to be there. The best idea she had was to fly them out to the moon, but her idea fell short when the crew realized the only ship available was currently at the moon base. Lion was always an option, but something told them that it wouldn’t be long before the Rubies made their way to earth on the own. Pearl could easily take down a few of them, but Lapis was useless without water available. For now, they agreed to wait, running on the hope that the moon base duo would return with a bubble full of Rubies, or that one of them would escape back for help.

Sure enough, Peridot spotted the ship in the sky. Its movements were erratic, and its speed far too high for safety. The gems ran for cover as the ship crashed onto the beach, pieces and parts flying off on impact. Before anyone could check the wreckage, the door burst open as a Ruby jumped out, shouting that she was free. The red gem stood triumphant, only to be knocked down by a crashing wave. Lapis emerged from the ship, shaking another Ruby off her leg. Pearl followed after, holding a bubble with a third Ruby, and finally a fourth Ruby unharmed in her arms. 

“Let me go!” the Ruby shouted. She kicked and flailed endlessly. 

“Pearl! Lapis!” Steven called out as he ran to them. 

“Oh Steven you’re alright! We were worried the ship would crash onto the beach!” Pearl said, sending her bubble off. 

The gems regrouped, now trying to figure what to do with their four Rubies. The fifth Ruby, Eyeball as Steven called her, was still nowhere to be found. Pearl had bubbled Doc, leaving them with Navy, Army and Leggy. Army seemed the be the only causing the most issue, as Leggy was confused on how she’d gotten to earth to start with. As decisions were made on Army, Navy tried to fight her way free of Lapis’ water prison, only to find no escape. 

“We could just keep Leggy,” Steven suggested. 

“Where?” Peridot asked.

“Oh perhaps the old shed you live in,” Pearl suggested.

Peridot’s face wrinkled at her comment. Before she could answer, Lapis said, “We don’t have space. Two is enough.”

A glance was shared between Amethyst and Peridot at that comment. They realized that Pearl and Lapis were expecting to come home to the way things had been before. Things had changed, living situations redone, training mentors revised and homes redecorated. The Rubies might be the easiest problem to deal with. By sun down the gems had figured what to do with their newest editions. Army was bubbled, only after she had broken free of Pearl’s grip and attacked Amethyst. Leggy and Navy would stay at the barn under Lapis’ supervisor until further notice. Neither posed much threat, and didn’t seem to mind the idea of staying with the blue gem. Steven could have sworn Navy was excited at the idea.

Lapis took hold of her Rubies, and headed on her way to the barn. She turned back, and called out, “Peridot, you coming?”  
Peridot hesitated, knowing it was expected of her to follow. She took a step forward, and then stopped. “I… I live here now!”

“You… you what?” Pearl asked.

Steven took Pearl’s hand, and pulled her to the house. “Lots have changed come see!”

As he brought his gem family to the house, Lapis led her new roommates off. Steven threw open the door, excited to show Pearl the new renovations. The most she could do was stand at the entryway with her mouth gaping open. Trash and laundry littered the floor, chairs bolted on the walls, a huge bunk bed in the middle of the living room and glitter as far as the eye could see. It was certainly not the way she had left it two months ago. 

“This is…” she began.

“Perfect,” Garnet said, giving a thumbs up as she patted Steven. “Why don’t you show her what you’ve learned”

Steven’s eyes lit up at her comment. “Look Pearl!” With a tumble forward, he shot back and forth across the room, rolling as fast as your common video game hedgehog. The furniture cracked and smashed as he went. Stopping as he hit the temple door, Steven jumped up and said, “Amethyst taught me! Look what she taught Peridot!”

A skewer shot past Pearl, catching the wall above him. Peridot pulled her weapon back, and received a high five from Amethyst. The green and purple gems headed for the temple door, one to tell Steven he did well on his attack and two to see if it was possible to fit the bunk bed through the doorway. Amethyst opened the temple, and let Peridot go ahead of her. Pearl only watched in surprise as the pair got the bed into the temple. She spent the next few hours cleaning the house, all the while watching everyone interact. Garnet smiled a bit more, Amethyst and Peridot seemed closer, and Steven kept trying to show off the various things he had learn from Amethyst. They seemed happy, and though that made Pearl happy, she couldn’t quite understand why it also seemed to make her sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading this series! This was my first fanfic in over four years, and it felt great to get back into one of my favorite things. I'll be posting new series and shorts every Tuesday for now. Thanks for reading!


End file.
